Kale-farro salad with dried cherries and pecans

June 24, 2014

I threw this salad together last Saturday after Sal brought something similar home from the deli counter at New Seasons Market. The beauty of this salad is that it can be adapted based on what you have on hand.

These are the basic components for success:

Kale

Hearty grain (try job’s tears, barley or wheat berries)

Dried fruit (try yellow raisins or dried cranberries)

Nuts (walnuts or slivered almonds would work well here)

Celery for crunch and texture

Dressing (try red wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar-based options)

The combination I ended up with was a great balance of chewy and crunchy elements with the sweetness of the cherries balanced by the apple-cider vinaigrette

Main Ingredients

2 bunches kale, trimmed and fine-chopped

2 stalks celery, fine-chopped

1 cup dry farro cooked according to instructions (I soaked mine for 20 minutes, then cooked them on the stovetop for 30 minutes)

1 cup dried cherries

3/4 cup pecans. toasted

Dressing

3/4 cup good olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons brown rice syrup (honey or agave syrup would also work, brown rice syrup was what I had on hand)

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

cracked pepper to taste

Make

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake until well mixed. Place kale, celery, farro, cherries and pecans in a large mixing bowl and add dressing. Toss to combine. I also usually massage by hand to soften up the kale a bit. This salad tastes best when you make ahead and allow it to sit for a few hours before eating, but it’s great either way.